White Plains shuts out Stepinac

by Jordan Griffith
on
Sat, Apr 14, 2012 6:55 PM

Updated Sat, Apr 14, 2012 9:04 PM

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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – White Plains starting pitcher Chris Medeot is relatively new to the mound. The electric sophomore started pitching just two years ago but has quickly blossomed into one of the best young pitchers in Section 1.

“I had never done it before a few years ago,” Medeot said. “Over the past couple years I’ve been working at it a lot. In the offseason I’ve been strengthening my arm and working on different pitches to throw. It’s good that the work has been paying off up here on the varsity level.”

Medeot’s hard work was most evident on Saturday afternoon in White Plains’ 8-0 win against cross-town rival Stepinac. Medeot was masterful on the mound, posting an impressive three-hit complete game shut-out in his best start as a varsity pitcher.

“(Chris had) a phenomenal game,” said White Plains coach Marcel Galligani. “The kid was able to throw any particular pitch; one of three pitches in any count. He can throw strikes and he can throw multiple pitches for strikes. It keeps hitters off balance and it gives you a chance to call a good game. He gives you a chance to win.”

While Medeot kept Stepinac off the scoreboard, White Plains as a team played one of their best games of the season. The Tigers’ defense supported Medeot well with Steven Schiavone and Tommy Bertam bolstering the infield and Sean Johnson and Cameron Crabbe playing well in the outfield. Schiavone and Bertram turned a nice double play to halt a Stepinac chance early in the game and Schiavone turned another late in the game to deflate any chance of a comeback.

“This is actually the first baseball game that we’ve played pretty much all aspects of the game correctly,” Galligani. “We played well and very fundamentally sound.”

White Plains batted around in the seventh inning, breaking the game wide open with six runs. Schiavone led off the inning with a single and Kyle Adams was hit by a pitch. Kevin Nicholson added a pinch-hit RBI-single and Adams, who is regarded by some as the best defensive catcher in the section, stole home on a throw to first base. Johnson dropped a sac-bunt later in the inning to cap the rally.

While the Tigers were seeing the ball well, Stepinac used the game as an experience builder and struggled during some crucial points in the game. In the seventh inning, the Crusaders gave up four runs on wild pitches and had a few big errors that allowed the scoring binge to continue.

“This was a non-league game and we wanted to get some extra guys work that haven’t been out there,” said Stepinac coach Pat Duffy. “We put a guy out there who hadn’t pitched since Florida and he couldn’t locate. We were just trying to use different guys in a game like this so we could get ready for league play. That’s more important to us. We’ll put the starters back in and get the ace back on the mound and we’ll be fine.”

However, the Tigers hope that this game will be a big boost for the rest of the season.

“This one counts just as much as a league game to us,” Medeot said. “Our expectations always are high to start off the season. Our goal is obviously to win the section. But we just want to compete at this level and really just play hard. Our goal is just to play as hard as we can 100 percent of the time.”